New Rochelle High School Removes Ray Rice Jersey, Plaque: Report

By Alfred Branch (Patch Staff)

Following the Baltimore Ravens terminating the contract of running back Ray Rice, and the National Football League suspending him indefinitely, his high school alma mater also is distancing itself from the embattled New Rochelle native.

The Journal News’ Hoa Nguyen writes that New Rochelle High School hasremoved the ex-player’s jersey - and plaque honoring him - from display in the gym and hallway, respectively.

“When you put people up on a wall of fame, it’s an inspiration to the kids in the school,” Steve Young, the school’s athletic director, told The Journal News. “It becomes a teachable moment for the kids, that when something like that happens, there’s a consequence.”

Rice was cut by Ravens and suspended by the league after an additional surveillance video emerged of him knocking out his then fiancee, now wife, Janay Palmer while the couple argued at a New Jersey casino in February. The league initially suspended Rice two games, a move that was criticized at the time, but then upped the punishment after a public outcry over the new video.

The league is now facing new scrutiny and criticism over its handling of the whole incident, and according to the New York Post, the league has launched an independent review of matter. New York Giants owner John Mara, and Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney, are overseeing the inquiry, which is also being spearheaded by former FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III.

Photo: Ray Rice in New Rochelle in 2013 following the Ravens Super Bowl victory. Patch file photo.